Dr. Alston Crowley’s medical career took flight on the wings of his parents’ dream. With fluctuating grades and a half-hearted desire to become a doctor, Alston much preferred to set his sights on specimens of the female variety. Not wishing to disappoint his parents, however, he decided to compromise, and set out for the Caribbean island of Montserrat, where he studied while basking in the natural beauty around him. Then, during his residency, the euphoria of paradise soon morphed into the harsh, clinical reality of New York Charity Hospital, where he met his nemesis, the brilliant practitioner, Dr. Maggie Finney. Under her relentless scrutiny, Alston’s medical career teetered on the brink of annihilation – until he was given a second chance to study at Physicians Scientific Research Institute in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, under the mentorship of Dr. Harry James Thornton, M.D., Ph.D.. At the Institute – metaphorically somewhere between Montserrat and Alcatraz, Alston’s life unexpectedly converged with researchers and practitioners in a tangled web of good versus evil. The subject of everyone’s focus: tiny yellow, red, and green frogs, emitting a mysterious substance. In the right hands, the discovery had the potential to revolutionize medical science. When in the clutches of the sinister Dr. Vincent Edison Longfellow, however, it altered countless lives and generations, engendering debates about the definition of “life” and its preservation. The ensuing challenges were not for the faint of heart, and beckoned Alston and his colleagues to probe and question the integrity of their profession. Ultimately, they found their way home – to the core meaning of “justice,” and the true essence of themselves. In this intense narrative, blended with intrigue, romance, and humor, author Harry J. Saranchak asks his readers to do the same. No one is immune to unethical practices and, where lives are at stake, the world is involved. Anyone, anywhere who has been privy to injustice must rise to the cause and have a voice.
Read an Excerpt from Betrayals of Hippocrates!
Dr. Vincent Edison Longfellow, M.D., on trial for premeditated serial murder, sat stone-faced on the witness stand. His gaze remained transfixed on a small refraction of light on the wall in the back of the courtroom. Almost reduced to a figment of his imagination, the moving shadow seemed to be a metaphor for Dr. Longfellow’s present state. He had just taken the oath, contrary to the fervent advice of his attorney, Mark Samuels, to be a witness himself. The evidence pointing to his guilt was so incriminating, that nothing he could, possibly, have uttered—at any given moment—would have proven otherwise. Mr. Samuels had advised him that, if anything could save him, it would be his showmanship and longstanding reputation in the medical field which had been heralded, as well, by dignitaries worldwide—at least until the fateful day of his arrest. It was doubtful, however, that Dr. Longfellow was now equal to the challenge of character rehabilitation. Once immune to critical scrutiny, the towering, six-foot-two behemoth of medical science had reached the point of no return. At all cost, he averted eye contact with me, Dr. Alston Crowley, M.D. who, like the shadow—but looming much larger—sat within the purview of his vision. At my side was eminent pediatric cardiologist, Dr. Maggie Finney, literally on the edge of her seat. She clasped my hand so tightly that my fingers went numb. Both of us glared at the beleaguered witness with an admixture of horror and triumph in the wake of his fall from grace.
Read the Reviews!
“There are two markedly noteworthy elements about Harry J. Saranchak’s debut novella, Betrayals of Hippocrates: Crimes Against Innocence: he is a very impressive storyteller, and he incorporates some challenging questions concerning medical ethics and debatable surgical practices.”
--Bookpleasures
Dr. Harry J. Saranchak earned a B.A. degree cum laude from Georgetown and followed it with an M.D. from University of Connecticut School of Medicine. For 30 years he was a vascular and general surgeon in three Connecticut hospitals, and for 25 of those he was also educator and mentor to medical students, residents and colleagues—while receiving eight Golden Scalpel awards for teaching excellence. A Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, Dr. Saranchak co-authored seven medical journal articles from 1974 to 1984. After retiring from his private practice at Grove Hill Medical Center in New Britain, CT, he wrote Betrayals of Hippocrates: Crimes Against Innocence.
You can visit his website at www.harryjsaranchak.com.
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